Chris Morris wants the City of Sault Ste. Marie to ‘really think’ about the long-term impacts if Uber decides to further expand to the Sault after moving into northeastern Ontario<\/p>\n
EZRide co-owner Chris Morris is worried that Uber will negatively impact other transportation services in town if the rideshare company eventually comes to the Sault.<\/p>\n
Earlier today, Morris posted to the Facebook group Support Local Sault Ste. Marie and Area to express his concerns about Uber, which is expanding to Greater Sudbury, Timmins and North Bay after the province announced the return of the Northlander passenger train service in May.<\/p>\n
In his post, Morris implored Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and the City of Sault Ste. Marie to “really think” about the impact Uber would have upon small businesses like EZRide, after Shoemaker told SooToday\u00a0earlier this month<\/a> that the municipality wants to be \u201cconsidered in future expansion plans.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSmall business support is what we need here, and allowing Uber to come into town will heavily affect multiple small businesses,\u201d Morris said in the social media post.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As it stands now, Uber is permitted to operate in Sault Ste. Marie under the city\u2019s Vehicles for Hire bylaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morris told SooToday that while the public may think the arrival of large rideshare companies will result in more competition and lower prices, smaller companies like his will \u201cend up taking a hit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to operate so we can at least maintain the cost of the business, whereas they can afford to operate for months at a loss if it means in the future it’ll be better for them,\u201d Morris said.\u00a0<\/p>\n EZRide has made it a point to buy local, as the rideshare company\u2019s smartphone app, website and promotional materials are all supplied by local businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt has a domino effect, right? If our business gets hit, then so do those other smaller businesses,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n That domino effect would also impact how EZride sponsors local sports like the Soo Jr. Greyhounds and the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League, Morris added.<\/p>\n \u201cIf supporting local goes away, it’s those little things that will be affected as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n